Very excited to be interviewed by the East Anglia Art Fund about my debut exhibition ‘Art Imposter’

Art Imposter

EAAF Member Jim Rymer, who paints under the name Jarome, is currently showing in his first solo exhibition ‘The Art Imposter’ at The Gallery Upstairs, located above Venetia’s Yarn Shop on Norwich Street, Fakenham, and at the Little Red Gallery, Lincoln. Jarome has enjoyed a varied working career during his 25 years in Norfolk, working as head of drama at Northgate High School in Dereham, before becoming a psychotherapist and then a psychologist specialising in helping young people. In 2017, he began making artwork. We asked Jerome to describe his work – The texture of memory, with strong, bold choices and heavy use of oil paint blended with layers of resin, ink and various unexpected materials.

What keeps you up at night?
I am a bit of a night owl, staying up painting into the wee small hours. It’s a family trait which I think my brothers and I inherited from our beloved late father. Mostly, what keeps me awake is my preoccupation with painting. Attempting to get the emotional resonance reflected in my work. I rework and revise the painting, destroying many paintings in the process. Many nights I repaint the canvas, so it ends up with thick hidden layers of previous attempts and underpaintings. What lies beneath is hidden but I know it’s there…now you do too!   

What is your favourite part of your practice?
I relish the challenge of painting, going into the studio and facing the work head on, with sometimes a fight with images on the canvas. I also love the solitude painting affords me. It’s a time to reflect and immerse myself in the creative process. 

Which artists inspire you most?
I have a huge number of influences. I adore the figurative work of Francis Bacon, his images both inspire and disturb me. Particularly his use of colour form and image; and also his attempt to get to the raw sensation of the impulse, stripped down. I am fascinated by the way Bacon applies paint onto the canvas at times dobs of thick paint at others the thinnest layer, a mere hint. How lucky we are to have a number of his works in the UEA’s Sainsbury Centre, which I revisit time and again. More recently I have become intrigued by the work of John Kiki and am always excited to see his work whenever I get the chance. Growing up in Ireland I was fortunate to see the work of Jack Butler Yeats and his mystic use of painting. It’s like poetry through the form of paint. In the last few years my work has been heavily inspired by Gerhard Richter the German Visual artist. I also adore Monet’s waterlily paintings which influence my treatment of water and of course the best till last Van Gogh.   

If you could step inside an artwork for a day, which would it be and why?
I would choose the fabulous and moving work The Pink Orchard by Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) Arles, April 1888 oil on canvas. Van Gogh had just arrived in Arles in February, hoping for better light and a new start to inspire him. I have had several new starts to my life so I know how that feels. The anticipation of newly arriving in an unknown place, the feeling of potential awakening within.  Spring was arriving and like Vincent this time of year inspires me with hope and the likelihood of new scenes in nature to work from. Brimming with enthusiasm Vincent set to work on what was to become part of a triptych. I have only to date had the courage to paint one triptych which has never been shown. But the format intrigues me, incidentally it is to be found in the work of my other favourite painter Francis Bacon. I would love to have the opportunity to stand by Vincent and simply watch as he lays paint on canvas, becoming one with his vision reflected in the world of the work. The colours and rhythms of the painting show his inner world. I would walk about his creation half real world half his inner world view and marvel, the closest I will ever get is to look with wonder and awe at the majestic world of the pink orchard.